Effect of lognormal particle size distributions on particle spreading in additive manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (AM) has attracted much attention worldwide in various applications due to its convenience and flexibility to rapidly fabricate products, which is a key advantage compared to the traditional subtractive manufacturing. This discrete element method (DEM) study focusses on the impact of particle polydispersity during the particle spreading process on parameters that affect the quality of the final product, like packing and bed surface roughness. The particle systems include four lognormal particle size distribution (PSD) widths, which are benchmarked against the monodisperse system with the same mean particle diameter. The results reveal that: (i) the solid volume fraction of the initial packed particle bed in the delivery chamber increases then plateaus as the PSD width increases; (ii) regardless of PSD width, the solid volume fraction of the particle bed increases with spreading layer height before compression, but decreases with layer height after compression; (iii) the bed surface roughness increases with PSD width or layer height both before and after the compression of the spreading layer; (iv) the extent of increase in solid volume fraction during compression is correlated with the extent of decrease in bed surface roughness; and (v) the broader PSDs exhibit larger fluctuations of solid volume fraction of the particle bed and bed surface roughness due to greater variability in the arrangement of particles of different sizes. The results here have important implications on the design and operation of particle-based AM systems.     

Nonlinear dynamic characteristics and bifurcation analysis of Ti–Zr–Ni quasicrystal as hydrogen storage material

In this article, the nonlinear dynamic characteristics and bifurcation of a Ti–Zr–Ni quasicrystal impacted by hydrogen atoms are studied. New nonlinear damping terms are proposed to express the delay characteristics of Ti–Zr–Ni quasicrystal, and the accurate natural frequency is obtained by the harmonic balance method. A new method based on the developed largest Lyapunov exponent is proposed to analyze the local stability of any point in the system, and the system's global stability is determined. Finally, a new way to realize the switch between hydrogen storage and release based on stochastic Hopf bifurcation is proposed. The results of theoretical analysis and numerical simulation show that the system's motion can be switched between a periodic orbit and a balanced point near the bifurcation boundary with little energy consumption, which is helpful for hydrogen storage and release.     

Enhanced photo-electrochemical activity of ZnO/Cu2S nanotube arrays photocathodes

ZnO/Cu₂S nanotube arrays are fabricated firstly by a facile and capping-agent-free method, and the photo-electrochemical performance has been studied systematically. The results show that ZnO/Cu₂S nanotube arrays achieve enhanced photo-electrochemical water splitting performance and the photocurrent densities of ZnO/Cu₂S are 7.9 times than that of ZnO at 0 V versus Ag/AgCl. The performance of the ZnO/Cu₂S nanotube arrays can be adjusted by changing the amount of Cu₂S microcrystals. The results confirm that the enhanced photo-electrochemical performance of ZnO/Cu₂S is due to the significantly improved visible light absorption, effective separation of photo-induced carriers due to the well band energy match and the formed p-n junction between ZnO and Cu₂S.     

Pressure wave behavior and its effects on structure under In-box LOCA in a helium-cooled lead lithium blanket of hydrogen fusion reactors

The helium-cooled lead lithium (PbLi) blanket is considered as one of the candidate blanket concepts selected for the hydrogen fusion DEMO reactors and beyond, which has the advantages of simple structure, strong heat removal capacity and high tritium breeding ratio. However, due to the harsh environment such as high-energy neutron irradiation, high thermal load and great pressure gradient, there is a high possibility that one or some of the thousands of coolant channels will break in the breeding zone, which is so-called In-box Loss of Coolant Accident (In-box LOCA). When the accident occurs, the high pressure helium will rapidly inject into the lead lithium flow channel, generating a complex two-phase flow and great pressure shock effect, which may cause the peak pressure to exceed the design limit and threaten the integrity of the blanket structure. Therefore, it is of great significance to perform the transient analysis of in-box LOCA to improve the safety of the blanket and avoid the leakage of radioactive materials. In this paper, a two-way coupling model for fluid-solid interaction was established based on the ANSYS Workbench, and the model were validated through the experimental data obtained by injecting the high pressure helium gas into liquid lithium lead. Then the validated model was applied to the transient pressure wave propagation analysis and structural stress analysis of the Dual-Functional Lithium Lead (DFLL) blanket in order to explore the integrity of blanket structure under In-box LOCA. In addition, the effects of break location on pressure and structural stress was also investigated through six cases. The study found that the transient pressure in the DFLL blanket gone through three stages in any case: step rise, oscillate, and flatten out. Pressure peaks occurred during oscillations and their values were strongly dependent on the break location. The closer to the inlet/outlet, the higher the peak pressure was. The maximum pressure reached more than twice of the inlet pressure (up to ~16 MPa). As a result, the structural stress in some local areas has exceeded the allowable limits, and the corresponding suggestions for improvement have also been put forward. This study can provide guidance for safety design, operation and accident mitigation measures of helium-cooled lead lithium blankets.     

Perovskite materials for highly efficient catalytic CH4 fuel reforming in solid oxide fuel cell

SOFC (solid oxide fuel cell, SOFC) is recognized to be efficient green energy technology in the 21st century. However, when hydrocarbons are directly used as fuel, carbon deposition is easy to occur in Ni-based anode, thus losing electrochemical catalytic activity. Fuel pre-reforming is also called on-cell reforming of hydrocarbons, which has been a promising solution for alleviating the carbon deposition problem in cermet anodes to varying degrees. And the key factor is to find an efficient and stable fuel reforming catalyst. Perovskite oxides have stable structure, highly catalytic activity and adjustable thermal expansion coefficient for using on the cells, showing great potentials of application for fuel reforming. In this paper, we summarize the application of perovskite catalyst in CH₄ fuel reforming based on the research of our group and other scholars, and puts forward the corresponding views and perspective, especially in perovskite catalyst with Ni exsolution.     

Mn4+-activated KLaMgWO6: A new high-efficiency far-red phosphor for indoor plant growth LEDs

Novel Mn⁴⁺-activated KLaMgWO₆ red phosphors with different Mn⁴⁺ concentrations were successfully synthesized via a high-temperature solid-state reaction method. The phase formation, microstructure, photoluminescence properties, decay lifetimes and internal quantum efficiency were discussed to analyze the properties of the as-prepared phosphors. The samples belonged to monoclinic crystal system with enough WO₆ octahedrons that provided suitable sites for Mn⁴⁺ ions. Upon the excitation of 348?nm, KLaMgWO₆:Mn⁴⁺ phosphors gave bright far-red emission around 696?nm due to the ²E_g→⁴A_2g transition of Mn⁴⁺ ions. The critical concentration of Mn⁴⁺ was 0.6?mol% and the concentration quenching mechanism belonged to electric multipolar interaction. Besides, the CIE chromaticity coordinates of the KLaMgWO₆:0.6%Mn⁴⁺ phosphor were (0.7205, 0.2794) which located in deep red range, and its color purity reached up to 96.6%. The KLaMgWO₆:0.6%Mn⁴⁺ sample also exhibited high internal quantum efficiency of 43%. All of the admirable optical properties indicate that the KLaMgWO₆:Mn⁴⁺ phosphors can be applied to indoor plant growth illumination.     

Lead-free sodium niobate nanowires with strong piezo-catalysis for dye wastewater degradation

In this work, the hydrothermally-synthesized sodium niobate nanowires were used to decompose Rhodamine B dye solution through the piezo-catalytic effect. With the sodium niobate catalyst, a high piezo-catalytic degradation ratio of ～80% was achieved under the excitation of vibration for the Rhodamine B dye solution (～5?mg/l). These active species in the catalytic process, hydroxyl radicals and superoxide radicals with the strong oxidation ability, were also observed, which confirmed the key role of piezoelectric effect for piezo-catalysis. The piezo-catalysis of sodium niobate nanowires provides a high-efficiency and reusable tool in application in depredating the dye wastewater.     

基于物联网的重离子加速器状态诊断系统研究与设计

为更好地保障中国科学院近代物理研究所重离子加速器（HIRFL）的稳定运行，本文研究设计了基于物联网的状态诊断系统。针对HIRFL中设备数量庞大、种类复杂的特点，采用物联网的设计架构，利用各种传感器进行数据采集，并通过网络传输给中央控制系统中的数据库，由服务器中运行的控制软件对这些数据进行综合分析，给出合理的建议并发出相应的指令。根据HIRFL的实际情况，初步设计了1个HIRFL状态诊断系统模型，包括底层的硬件设计和上层的软件设计以及界面设计。部分控制界面已上线运行，并在实际运行中得到了检验，取得了一定的加速器状态诊断效果。